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Snapchat exhibits virtual Jeff Koons sculptures [READ DETAILS HERE]

Snapchat is
displaying virtual sculptures by the artist Jeff Koons at nine locations across
the world.

The artworks
- which include a version of his giant bubble dog and a large multi-coloured
pile of Play-Doh - are shown as augmented reality exhibits superimposed over
real-world views captured by smartphone cameras.

Facebook
announced plans for a similar feature earlier this year but has not launched it
yet.

Early
reactions have been mixed.

The
Techcrunch news site visited one exhibition site in New York's Central Park and
reported experiencing glitches when it tried to view the imagery.

"The
first few times the AR sculpture was changing locations, floating randomly in
the sky and overlaying itself on concrete pillars," it reported.

It said that
the feature was also very taxing on its handset's battery, but added that it
was "fun to walk around" the three-storey high artwork when the
software worked as intended.

Other places
where the art can be temporarily viewed via Snapchat include London's Hyde
Park, Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach and the area in front of the Sydney
Opera House.

The app is
now inviting other artists to contact it to propose similar tie-ups.

Its makers
have highlighted efforts to attract more over-25s to their platform in recent
months, and one expert said this should boost their campaign.

"Snapchat
needs to appeal more broadly than to just teenagers and millennials,
particularly since older audiences often have more disposable income making
them desirable to advertisers," commented Chris Green from the tech
consultancy Lewis.

"This
helps make Snapchat more relevant to people with interests in art and culture,
as well as providing advertisers in the premium luxury space with a
justification to work with the app."

The launch
coincided with an appearance by parent company Snap's chief executive at an
event run by Vanity Fair magazine.

Evan Spiegel
addressed concerns that investors had about his firm's prospects.

Slower-than-expected
user growth and disappointing earnings have caused analysts to scale back their
forecasts for the firm, which in turn has pushed Snap's shares below the price
they floated at in March.

Mr Spiegel
said that he believed some of the doubts were part of a "natural...
getting-to-know-you period for Wall Street".

But he
acknowledged that he had "underestimated" how important it was to
communicate with shareholders about the business.

As part of
that effort, he disclosed the company had sold more than 150,000 pairs of its
video camera-equipped Spectacles since they launched in the US last year.

While that
is a relatively low number for a mainstream consumer electronics product, Mr
Spiegel said it was above his own company's forecast and noted that it had
surpassed demand for the original iPod in its first year.

Looking
ahead, he said he expected hardware to be financially important to the company
in a decade.

However, he
did not discuss reports his firm was in talks to buy the Chinese dronemaker
Zero Zero Robotics.

The federal
government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has apologised
to Air Peace Airlines and its passengers after a herd of cattle strayed onto
the runway of Akure Airport in Ondo state.

Nigerian
football star Victor Moses scored on his 209th Premier League appearance as
Chelsea put behind them their recent struggles by thrashing West Bromwich
Albion 3-0 at the Stamford Bridge on Monday.

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The Special
Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie has
responded to the claims that the Tsaigumi commissioned in Kaduna during the
week, was first launched by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.